After a tumultuous start of the session, a landmark Everglades bill that will fund the "last act" of a 20-year restoration effort unanimously passed the Florida House Friday, thanks to bipartisan support and a groundbreaking compromise reached between farmers and environmental activist groups earlier in the week.
Rep. Matt Caldwell, sponsor of what he deemed "the last act" to finish restoring the Everglades, successfully shepherded the legislation, which updates the Everglades Forever Act to reflect a new $880 million state and federal agreement.
The Lehigh Acres Republicans strike-all amendment to HB 7065, which conformed the bills language to match its Senate companion, was approved on the House floor Thursday before the bill moved to Fridays 114-0 final vote. Earlier Thursday, the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation unanimously approved its matching SB 768, sponsored by Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby.
The measure outlines funding sources for construction of the final projects. Sources include a state appropriation and a tax increase to be paid by Everglades Agricultural Area farmers. Farmers will also be required to continue their Best Management Practices, which have reduced phosphorus in the water by 55 percent over the life of the program, according to the South Florida Water Management District.
Farmers testified in earlier committees that the Agricultural Privilege Tax and their farming practices equal a private investment in restoration of $400 million. Extending the tax to 2035, as called for in the bill, is estimated to result in more than $150 million additional private-industry restoration dollars.
Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida, one of a pair of environmental groups who pushed for tax increases, told Thursdays Senate committee that his organization stands behind the bill. Not entirely satisfied, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who was wary of the staying power of the agreement struck between private businesses and the environmental groups, asked the billionaire Paul Tudor Jones-backed Everglades Foundation to go on the record with their support, which was confirmed via a lobbyist.
The stage was then set for Fridays final House vote, which a sugar executive called a victory for all of us who have been part of Everglades restoration efforts for 20 years.
"We are committed to striking the balance that allows us to grow the nation's food and also continue to serve as partners in the state's restoration plans, continued Robert Coker, senior vice president of United States Sugar Corp.
Prior to the vote, Caldwell read a passage from Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, in which the former Florida governor championed the creation of a drainage district through the Everglades. In a nod to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, pronounced, "It has taken 100 years to get to this point."
As member after member urged unanimous passage of a bill that Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, described as a "Herculeaneffort," it was clear that the House wanted to offer a salute to the bipartisan compromise that had been reached on the historic last bill for the Everglades.
Echoing those sentiments, Gaston Cantens, vice president of Florida Crystals Corp., another sugar grower, said, "This agreement is a continuation of [a] successful collaboration and spirit of cooperation we know will get the job done for restoration."
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
